(Don't) Pull the (dream) trigger
by ana dragneel-chan
Summary: Dreams are the hope for the future, but reality is harsh. In this cruel world, they don't stay whole all the times. And neither do their triggers. [FT angst week 2016]
1. Cross my heart

**AN: So, this is the first part of my angst week this year and I kinda went a bit overboard.  
Some chapters are lighter, but some of them may make people uncomfortable when reading.  
Day 3 and the bonus day 2 will be part of a separate story.**

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 **#1) Cross my heart**

" _Cross my heart and hope to die."_

How had they come to this? He was angry, she was angry and the air around them was charged with magic particles.

After everything they had shared. Everything he had done… all he did was for her and yet, she dared to do what she had done?!

UN-FOR-GI-VA-BLE. What about…? It wasn't like the words said in the past really mattered now. That's what they were. Words lost in time. Words that once held meaning and feelings.

Acnologia still remembered how he met her. Loving, caring, brave. The stellar mistress. The first person that welcomed him during his poor boy's years. Like a shining star showing him a hopeful path towards the future. A great future he could actually picture himself holding.

And the dragon wars roared and roared each day. Humans were gifted with dragon slaying magic and the bloodied war became more gruesome and deadly. They asked for volunteers. Humans brave enough to put their lives in the line. Some went for the glory, others for the magic, but he went for her.

He wanted to protect her and so he killed, and killed and killed. Dragon after dragon fell before him as the words she once said gave him strength.

"I'll always be on your side. Cross my heart and hope to die…"

Acnologia became strong. Covered in dragon blood he heard the rumors of dragons and the Black Wizard cooperating. And then, her name. His eyes widened at once. She wouldn't. The promise, the words. They were the truth. Rumors aren't always true.

But the days went by and the disturbing thoughts kept Acnologia awake. Had she betrayed him? Had she not? Hope and despair clashing all the time.

He finally ended up at the doorstep of her house. She wasn't expecting him, her surprise written on her face. But the question, oh the question. He tried to say the words, yet he couldn't say them. He wanted to, but at the same time he was afraid. He, Acnologia, the strongest dragon slayer was afraid of saying a bunch of words. Saying a bunch of words to her, his muse, and the one who stole his heart with simple acts of kindness.

"Anna, I heard some rumors. Rumors that you helped the Black Wizard and his plan."

"And what if I did? It doesn't concern you Acnologia! But you wanna know? I did help. It was for the best!"

"No, it wasn't! What lies did they tell you to make you agree with that?!"

"They didn't lie to me! The dragon king has to be stopped!"

Acnologia stared at her eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes he once loved so much. How much he wanted to pull the trigger that would have led to a happy future with her. Now, it was too late.

"And had they told you who is the dragon king?! I'm sure they haven't. Look at me, Anna…"

Anna Heartfilia took a step back. She could see the madness dancing in Acnologia's eyes.

"Acno, what…"

"Surprise Anna. I'M THE DRAGON KING. And you betrayed me. What were the words? 'Cross my heart and hope to die'? Because guess what, that's exactly what's gonna happen to you!"

The noise of a door creaking open. A claw. Blood. A child screaming for a woman who wouldn't come back.

 _ **And that was how the first dream trigger broke.**_


	2. Silence

**AN: This one is less bloody, but brace yourselves for some emotional pain.**

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 **#2) Silence**

" _And ironically, the sound that haunted him the most_

 _was the sound of silence."_

He was called many things. Annoying, loud, dork, stupid. Yet, every time they called him one of these things he just smiled at them and kept doing his shenanigans.

Even when surrounded by many people, he would do that as a way of protecting himself. Because the facade he put up was to protect the side of him who feared it. The part of him that absolutely loathed the silence.

The silence. His worst enemy. Because when there was no noise, he heard those maddening whispers. Those accusing whispers who fought each other and at the same time stood on the same side to fight against him.

He once wished to get stronger and got that cursed power. And every time he was faced with the silence and the accusing voices, he wished he never touched that power. And the voices made sure he knew that they didn't acknowledge him either and they thought he was unworthy of holding their power.

There wasn't a single person who could understand him.

And after years using that **'fake'** face, he lost sight of his true self. Never even once, the silence stopped haunting him. He became God Serena, the annoying idiot, the loud diva, the strongest of Ishgar, the traitor who joined the spriggan 12.

But in the end, when he felt Acnologia's claw ripping his body apart, God Serena tried to grab that dusty and cracked dream trigger. He would die, but at least his worst enemy would leave him to succumb alone.

Only when the voices started laughing at his foolish though he realized the truth. He was dying, and now the silence would haunt him forever. Ignorance is truly a blessing in disguise, he bitterly said to himself.

 _ **And with that realization, the second dream trigger broke.**_


	3. Spellbound

**AN: I thought that spellbound and spell bound meant the same thing. Imagine my surprise when my English-English dictionary told me they were different.**

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 **#3) Spellbound**

" _And the beast inside came out,_

 _spellbinding all the souls who dared to look at it."_

They were all set in defeating Zeref even if they needed to find a way to kill the black wizard and that was a constant worry in his mind. Along with the book. He knew that if something happened to the book, he would also feel it. And the worst case scenario, if Gray got his hands on the book… Just picturing it made him feel sick.

The worries were eating his insides, but he kept his regular face on, so that his friends wouldn't worry about him. They had bigger issues to solve right now, he couldn't be a burden to the others.

And so the troubled boy kept fighting, with a fake smile and a worrying attitude.

But when faced with the choice, he gave away his internal struggle. Throw the final blow on the opponent right in front of him or saving the book. On a last moment thought, he dove right for the book, holding it like a precious treasure and rolling to absorb impact.

And the next moment, all eyes were set on him. Natsu didn't understand. Had his mistake been that big that all the others stared at him like he wasn't their companion? All the sounds were unrecognizable, buzzing on his ears like annoying mosquitos. Until he heard the only one which sounded different.

"You don't understand what's going on, but have you tried looking at yourself?"

The dragon slayer raised his hands, but they weren't hands anymore. Instead of hands he now had… claws? Claws with dragon-like scales of a darkish red that resembled way too much the color of blood.

The buzzing died down and he could finally get part of what was being said in that place.

"…chance! END…here!"

Angry voices shouting at each other, discussing something. He had no idea of what was the talk about, but his gut feeling couldn't avoid telling him it wasn't good. His lips moved and the words fell from them, even though he didn't want to say anything.

He once again became the target. Questions were fired and he just averted his gaze from the questioning people there.

And the sound of sobs reached his ears. A sound he knew but loathed from the bottom of his heart. And for a brief moment, Natsu regained control.

"Don't… don't cry…" He looked at the tear stained face of his partner in a tender way. For a moment he thought everything would be okay after all that mess was over. For a single moment he was naïve enough to believe in an ending in which the demon got the happily ever after.

A wrath filled cry came from his rival and friend, and reality dawned on him. The demon slayer's rage filled eyes spoke more than any of the words shot around.

Because END knew that one would perish, for both the demon and the slayer couldn't coexist anymore.

 _ **And in a span of time no longer than seconds, once more a dream trigger broke, leaving only the dust of a wish behind it.**_


	4. Smothered

**AN: I always felt like Cobra had more to his character than what we get to see. Well, this is another chapter the dictionary helped me write.**

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 **#4) Smothered**

" _The world smothered him,_

 _with harsh words and even harsher thoughts."_

When he first wished to be able to listen to Cubellios voice, he hadn't expected his wish to become true. He thought the world was a bitter and cold place. He had been right.

Erik, no, Cobra knew how hateful the world could be better than anyone. He knew how greedy and selfish humans are and really thought that snakes were better companions.

The world had always suffocated him, so he leaned poison magic to pay back the world. And that's why the poison dragon slayer became the poison dragon slayer.

His sound magic allowed him to listen to the thoughts of others. He knew he wasn't better than any of those silly humans. But did he care? No, he never did. He just wanted to hear Cubellios voice. That was all.

Then came the Jelly guy with his redemption talk and gave him a hella pretty beating. A beating the other members of Oracion Seis also got. And that was his invitation to the _"let's redeem ourselves club"._

Right now he was in the middle of a war he didn't want to be, bringing down as many enemy soldiers as he could before coming face-to-face with one of the Spriggan 12. If he was lucky enough to face one of them, it seemed.

Harsh words were flying around, harsh and regretful thoughts made his mind buzz with the amount of information reaching his ears. And when it almost became unbearable, Cobra let out a poisonous roar. Those who dared to face him ended up smothered by the poison.

The boring and predictable fight kept going and for no longer than a minute, Cobra let his guard down. He had wished for an opponent worthy of his time, one of the spriggan 12, not the one man who happened to be the one and only dragon king.

And now beaten, bruised and in no state to keep fighting, Cobra could hear the suffocating words and thoughts from the world clearly. A harsh sound asked for his last words and he answered with his cocky smile:

"See ya in hell, 'cause you'll join me there!"

And with the burning feeling of being smothered, that happened to be so similar to the one he felt on the first day with his magic, Cobra felt his body leaving him.

As a final farewell, he couldn't avoid the regretful thought that was his last.

" _Oh well, I at least wanted to listen to Cubellios one last time…"_

 _ **And with a simple, but unattained last wish, the forth dream trigger ceased to exist.**_


	5. Past

**AN: Ok, pay attention and read this carefully. This chapter is the reason why this story is rated M. It WILL make some people unconfortable when reading, so if you can't handle torture and harsh emotional pain, I advise you to skip it.**

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 **#5) Past**

" _His past mistakes followed him everywhere,_

 _like a parasite clinging to its host."_

Saying that Gajeel deeply regretted his actions in the past was an understatement. But now wasn't the moment to think about it. That's what he told himself.

Seeing the terrible situation on the North brought a feeling of dread that made the iron dragon unsure of what to do. They had to help Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus, that was their priority.

Seeing how the enemy decided to humiliate them reminded him way too much of his dark days at Phantom Lord, when he was feared and took pleasure in making others suffer.

It was still a mystery to him how Fairy Tail had come to accept the same one who brought them lots of pain. But that was in the past, as even the shrimp had forgiven his wrongdoings against her.

His thoughts kept walking down that dark and dangerous lane, until his memories of times before Phantom Lord and after Metalicana resurfaced. His times as a problem child along with Mash… A sudden enemy attack brought his attention back to the battle and so it kept progressing.

Until that powerhouse stood there, blocking his way to victory. Along with his allies, Gajeel tried to surpass it, but they fell one after the other. The iron dragon was the last one standing. They had danced like marionettes on the hands of the spriggans on the North.

And as the favorite chosen puppet, they made Gajeel watch it all. The slow slaughter of the forces of Ishgar. The members of Blue Pegasus, the once prideful and fierce members of Sabertooth. Each know face and the despair grew and grew.

Then the kid who once really admired him as a hero and his counterpart. The fierce exceed who was once a commander in a parallel world. Finally, the girl who forgave her attacker.

He struggled. Not her. Not her. NOT HER PLEASE! The sorrow and despair slowly crawling and surrounding his heart full of past scars.

And just to laugh at him, her screams became one more shadow among the ones that haunted him.

 _ **And right there, in enemy's hands and surrounded by despair, the iron dragon's dream trigger broke.**_


	6. Nightmare

**AN: This one is kinda dark, but less than the previous one.**

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 **#6) Nightmare**

" _Because that was his worst nightmare._

 _But this time, there was no waking up."_

There were not many things that could scare Sting. But once in a while, he would have this dream and would wake up covered in sweat. Lector never dared to ask Sting what was this nightmare about that made him so scared.

The only one who knew what were those nightmares about was Rogue. Because he had the same kind of nightmare.

They all started happy and somewhat normal dreams, until a single thing went wrong. By the time they finally got to wake up, all those people they loved would be covered in horrendous wounds or dead. Every single time.

So when the situation in the war started to take a turn for the worse, Sting kept chanting like a mantra that it wouldn't end like the nightmare. He wouldn't let it end like the nightmare.

Until the scarlet despair showed her face. The mages started to fall, the weaker first and little by little the strong started to struggle and fail in driving back the enemies.

Wave after wave Sting managed to somehow keep standing, back to back with his counterpart Rogue. Soon they were facing the scarlet despair herself, the ones that could be called the strongest among the tigers.

Badly hurt and unable to keep fighting, their numbers just went down. Yukino, Orga, Rufus, Minerva… only the twin dragons were left.

Rogue then saw it. A single attack aimed at Sting's blind spot. And Sting saw red and his partner since ever falling with a fresh and dangerous wound. Just like in his worst nightmare.

He called Rogue's name over and over, begging him not to lose consciousness. All the events on his nightmare happening one after the other.

A single whisper of _"just a nightmare, I just have to wake up"_ fell from his trebling lips, until a harsh voice, maybe his reality sense, told him otherwise.

"This is not a nightmare. There's no waking up from it."

 _ **And with the pain of that same scene playing over and over again, one of the twin dream triggers broke. The other was already cracked beyond repair since a long time before that…**_


	7. Fairy Tale

AN: I'm really tired, but finally the last chapter.  
It was a nice ride writing this story.

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 **#7) Fairy Tale**

" _Real life isn't a fairy tale."_

Even though many perceived her as an innocent child, Wendy knew that the world was not only flowers and smiles. She had seen many things a child shouldn't have seen and faced. So many negative emotions. Pain, despair, greed, madness… in her short journey she had met all of them, sometimes in even different forms.

But even after everything she had gone through, her dream trigger was still a solid one. It had received some scratches, especially some ugly ones from the Tartarus incident, but not a single part of it had broken.

That is, until the Alvarez war reached her with the full weight of what a war really is.

The amount of hurt people was insane for starters. But things just went downhill from there. Wendy had gone to Hargeon and there the struggle was real and scary.

The fight against Dimaria and Chelia losing her magic, along with the fact that she almost lost Charle, all in the same battle, left some freshly opened wounds in Wendy. And the Historia… A hurtful scar reopened. A scar she wore with some kind of pride, but it still hurt like no tomorrow when it reopened.

All those emotions from then, let loose again, bringing some of the worse consequences Wendy could never had pictured before.

Wendy was terrified. Terrified of having to face that hurtful and gruesome part of her past. Wendy was badly beaten, she had almost no energy left to fight. Wendy felt like giving up, but she couldn't. Not with both Chelia and Charle counting on her.

The scratched dream trigger got its first crack on this moment. The first small piece broke inside.

The scenery painted right out of a horror story didn't last long. The seven stars blasted Neinhart away and his Historias ended up defeated, just like him. But the terror and despair was still there. Hidden, somewhere deep inside the fighters, especially the youngest ones.

And for once, Wendy felt like the desperate words were right. Fairy Tales were pretty and lovely, but they would never be real. There was no place in the real world for happy-ending fairy tales.

 _ **A second crack showed up in the young girl's dream trigger. It wasn't enough to break it, but no matter what happened, the lost innocence would never come back. For such is the nature of a cracked dream.**_


End file.
